This invention relates to hair trimming apparatus, and more particularly to hair trimming apparatus which may be adjusted to cut hair any one of a number of selectable lengths.
Most modern electric hair clippers include two blades, one of which oscillates with respect to the other. Each blade has a row of hair cutting teeth, and the two rows of teeth are arranged parallel to and in contact with each other so that the tips of the teeth form a generally straight blade edge. Hair on a person or animal may be shorn to a desired length by pushing the oscillating blades through the hair a selected distance from the skin.
Comb attachments are provided with most hair clippers to maintain the blades a relatively fixed distance from the skin, so that the hair is cut substantially uniformly and the possibility of cutting the hair too short is reduced. Such attachments also protect the blades from damage.
Comb attachments usually have spaced fins which extend generally perpendicular to the blade edge. The operator may place a portion of the outer edges of the comb fins against or in proximity to the skin and push the clipper through the hair, cutting it as desired.
A comb attachment may be secured in fixed relation to a clipper, to cut hair a single length, or the attachment may be adjustable so that different hair lengths may be selected by the operator. Adjustable attachments are popular because only one attachment is needed, and adjustments may be made without removing and installing a number of comb attachments.
The installation of some operator adjustable comb attachments to a hair clipper requires additional parts such as spring clips and the like to secure the comb to the clipper. The use of such additional parts increases the cost of material and labor, and may result in higher maintenance costs and shorter life of the clipper.
A one-piece adjustable comb attachment for a hair clipper is available, but the attachment does not maintain contact with an exposed surface of the cutting blades in all positions of the attachment, creating a substantial space between the blades and the attachment. The space is closed behind the blades. As a result, cut hair may accumulate in the space between the cutting blade and the comb attachment. This is undesirable because such accumulated hair must be removed from the clipper and discarded. Thus, there is a need for adjustable one-piece comb attachments for hair clippers which do not require added parts for installation, and which do not accumulate hair clippings.
Hair generally does not grow perpendicularly out of the skin, but tends to grow at an angle with respect to the skin, and tends to naturally lie in a particular direction. When using an electric clipper, hair may be trimmed in the direction of hair growth, or with the lie of the hair. It may also be trimmed in the direction opposite to the direction of hair growth, or against the lie of the hair. If the hair is cut against the lie, the length of the hair remaining after it is cut is likely to be slightly shorter than it would be if the hair were cut with the lie.
Facial hair is preferably trimmed with the lie, to cut unruly hairs which curl away from the main growth of a beard or mustache, and to cut excessively long hairs, while at the same time leaving the appearance of a full growth of hair in the beard or mustache.
Most comb attachments are designed primarily for cutting hair on a person's head, or shearing the coat on an animal's hide. Clippers with such attachments do not easily cut mustaches and the like with the lie of the hair because mustache hair grows away from the nose, and the attachments are not adapted for permitting such hair to be cut with the lie because they touch the nose and prevent the blade from properly cutting the hair. For this reason, beards and mustaches are often cut with scissors. Since scissors generally do not trim hair as evenly or as easily as a hair clipper, there is a need for a comb attachment for hair clippers which is adapted for trimming mustaches, beards and the like by cutting the hair with the lie.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide new and improved hair trimming apparatus.
Another object is to provide new and improved hair trimming apparatus which may be adjusted to cut hair any one of a number of selectable lengths.
Still another object is to provide new and improved hair trimming apparatus having a one-piece comb attachment which is adjustable with respect to the hair cutting edge of a hair clipper, and maintains substantial contact with the exposed surface of the cutting blades throughout the range of adjustment.
Another object is to provide new and improved hair trimming apparatus which is adapted for trimming beards, mustaches and the like by cutting the hair with the lie.
Yet another object is to provide new and improved hair trimming apparatus having a one-piece comb attachment which is adequately secured to a clipper in any one of a number of selectable positions without additional parts which are dedicated to the securement of the comb attachment, and which may be easily moved to any of the positions by the operator, without manipulating other parts of the clipper.
A still further object is to provide new and improved hair trimming apparatus having a one-piece comb attachment which may be secured in any one of a number of selectable positions by parts of the apparatus which perform one or more functions in addition to the securement of the comb attachment.